Lubricating means and method



' oct. 11, 1932. o, -ZERK 1,882,053

LUBRICATING MEANS AND METHOD Filed Oct. 2l, 1929 I il @scafi/Zai r v @MJ flag@ Patented Oct. 11, 1932 UNiren stares PATENT ortica OsCAR U.ZRRK, or CHICAGO, iLIQINOIs, AssIeNOR r.ro ALRMI'IE CORPORATION, or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or DELAWAREl LUBRICATING MEANS AND'vIIEE'ILHOD Application filed October 21, 1929; Serial No. 401,280.

My present invention relates to lubricating guns and more particularlyto that class of lubricating guns commonly lknown in the trade as greaseguns and oil guns, which are employed for the purpose of quickly andeasily supplying a quantity of lubricant to bearing nipples of anautomobile ,chassis or other mechanism requiring` periodic lubrication.

The apparatus of my invention is equally well adapted for use inconnection with the lubrication of vehicles, such as the chassisbearings of automobiles, tractors, gun carriages, war tanks,locomotives, airplanes, air ships, sea vessels, etc., or in connectionwith industrial lubrication, which includes the lubrication ofstationary machines, such as stamping presses, printing presses,engines, textile machinery, shafting, and all the other 2O numeroustypes of machines and machine tools of modern industry.

In grease gun lubrication two types of apparatus are commonly used:First, the interlocking type employing a coupling for the purposeoftemporarily rigidly interlocking the lubricating gun nozzle and thelubricant receiving nipple, and second, the contacttype where thelubricating gun nozzle and nipple are not temporarily rigidlyinterlocked, but simply pressed against each other and held in lubricantcommunicating contact by manualV pressure during the lubricating period.

My present invention applies to both the f interlocking and Contact typeof guns, al* though it is believed to have a more particular applicationto guns of the contact type. The dimension of the lubricant containingreservoir, or barrel, not only depends upon the quantity of lubricantwhich the barrel is required to hold, but also upon Vsuch otherconsiderations as thek necessity of operating the gun in connection withlubricant receiving nipples which are often located in positiondifficult of access, considerations involved in the guns, and in thepackaging and sale of the same. Y

I 'also preferably provide the gun with a nipple engagingnozzle of suchform that the lubricant barrel can be oscillated from alignment with theaxis of the nipple to place it in suoli al positionwhere it will notinterfere withany adjacent part of the mechanism carrying the nipple; I,therefore, contemplate the use of the gun of my present invention inconnection with a nozzle and nipple con struction as is moreparticularly disclosed and claimed in my copending companion applicationfor United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 396,352, tiled September30,1929. i

However, particularly in its broader aspects, my gun may be employedwith other nozzle and' nipple constructions, as will be apparent tothose skilled in this art to which my invention appertains. y

The lubricant containing barrel is made of large diameter relativeto itslength, being preferably of a diameter twice its length, therebyachieving important advantages. Such a barrel being relatively short andshallow 'is capable of being easily filled with grease with littleentrapment of air bubbles, and has the additional advantage of beingrelatively inexpensive to manufacture, since a barrel of the shallowtype shown, can be made in one drawing operation without annealing,while a deep elongated tubular barrel of the relatively small diameteremployed in the older type of guns, requires siX to ten drawingoperations, with one to three interposed annealing operations. The useof a shallow barrel is advantageous in combina- Jtion with my new typeof grease impeller as fully` explained herein.

Nhen guns having contact nozzles, making pressure engagement withnipples of the contact type, have been used to dispense grease at highpressure, piston followers have commonly been employed in contact withthe rear surface of the body of grease in the gun bari Vsuch removalbeing sometimes attended'with diiiculty due to the. partial vacuumCommon- Vrel to prevent air being drawn through the body of greaseresponsive tolubricant being forced from the. forward end ofl the barrelby the action of a high pressure piston telescoping in a cylinder Ytosupply lubricant to the engaged nipple..l

Such piston followers have been commonly guided either by the lateralwalls of the lubricant containing barrel, or bythe piston rod extendingreciprocably axially of the barrel, or by both, and are required to beremoved when the barrel is'recharged with lubricant,

ly created by the rearward movement of such follower. l

Such followers able since they can onlygexercisev their intendedfunctionl for suchportion of thez entire body fof grease as maybecontained inthe portion of the cylindercomprising the barrelwhich is ofuniform cross-sectional area; for instance, where conical ends areyprovided for the barrel a 'follower which fltsthelateral walls ofother. portions thereof will notV be'able to fit into such conicalendportions and, iii-suchk a case, often retardsflowof lgreasetherefrom'rather' than assisting in expressmgsuch grease; greasew1ll,ftherefore,

be retained, which cannot be expelled prior to refilling of the barrel.An object of my invention, therefore, isl to provide .a lubricant gunVwith a barrel for supplying grease tothe higher pressure cyl-.

Vinoler of the gun w'hereinlubricant will be continuously supplied tothe highfpressure cylinder 'until practically allof-the grease isdispensed therefrom.V 2

VAnother object of my invention is to provide arpositive impellermechanismfor grease in the barrel toY positively V.more it toward Y thelhigh pressure cylinder of the gun.

. 'c Another ob-ject ofmyinvention is to provide improvedV impelleimeansfor grease 'adapted to effect a constantly operativeimpelling eifort tomove 'theg-rease toward a dis ensing mechanism. f

nother object of my invention is to pro- 'vide an improved lubricant gunadapted to 'e'iiciently supply lubricant to nipples adaptare, moreover,objection;

ed for temporary engagement by a nozzleof thegun, at high pressure, andwhich provides `for substantially continuous: forward movement of thelubricant in a reservoir barrel of the gun to the high pressurelubricant compressing and dispensing cylinder thereof.

. vAnother object VVof my invention is to provide an improved grease gunwith improved means to prevent air Vbeing drawn through the body ofgrease to the'lubricant dispens-y ing high pressure chamber of the gun.

' Other objects of my invention and the invention `itself willV become,apparent to those` skilled in the art tofwhich-g my invention appertainsfrom thefollowing description of certainembodiments of my invention, andin which reference is had 'to the accompanying drawing illustrating-theVsaid embodiments.

. In the drawing:

Fig. l is a longitudinal medial sectional` view of a lubricant gun whichlsvan embodi ment ofjmy invention;

. Fig. 2 is aside elevational view ofy a frag-k Y Fig. 7 is a sideelevational view of an im,V

peller, ratchet element therefor, and afrag- Vment of the kpiston rodsupporting the impeller and ratchet element;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of anfimf peller, ratchetV elementtherefor, and a fragment of the pistonrod supporting the impeller andratchet element, adapted for use in a lubricating gunwhich is anotherembodiment of my invention, and 1 Fig. 9 is a view similar to that ofFig.`3, but illustratingfthe placement of the impeller of Fig. 8 in agunbarrel such as that of Fig. l.

Referring now, first, to Figs. lto. 7, iny elusive, of the drawing, inall of which like parts are designated by likereference characters, thegun is provided with'a .relatively short tubular 'containerlherein-'referred to as the barrel or lubricant reservoir of the gun, andadaptedto contain a supply of lubricant, for a high pressure cylinder 2adapted to receive a piston 3 of relatively smalldiameter, reciprocabletherein, p to eject 'lubricant through a terminali nozzle 4, joined-thereto through the lubricant conducting universal joint mechanismgenerally shown at 5, and throughV a check valve 6.V 'z

A nipple 7 is shown in Fig. l against which 'the' nozzle 4V is adaptedto be pressed by a manually effected' pressure effort directed uponalgun handle 8 aixed to the posterior end 9 of the piston rod 10, whichprojects axially through the barrel 1 and supports at its end the piston3 for projection into the pressure cylinder 2.

The apparatus described isadapted to coincidentally compress lubricantin the cylinder, make a pressure contact to establish a leakproof jointbetween the nozzle and nipple, andto express lubricant from the highpressure cylinder into thefnipple for communication toV a bearing to belubricated.

The high pressure cylinder 2 is tubular in form with relatively thickand rigid lateral walls. Said cylinder is provided with an integraltubular inlet 10 of relatively increased bore and an outwardly flaredmouth 11. The barrel lis in the form of aI shallow cup having acentrally apertured cap 12 and a centrally apertured end wall 13 ofprogressively decreased diameter proceeding from the cylindrical portionof the barrel. The flared inlet mouth 11 is received within the centralaperture of the end wall 13 and has its outer surfaces relieved, forreceiving the reduced tubular portion 14 of the barrel, in engagementtherewith. To make a leakproof joint the parts 14 and 11 aresolderedtogether.

lThe cap 12 may be provided, as shown, with a concave convex end walland a lateral tubular flange 15 extending` therefrom and pressed to theform of screw threads for affixing the cap to the barrel by turning thescrew threaded flange 15 over lateral projections 16 of the barrel wall.

The piston 3 is in the form of an annulus of aI preferably compressiblematerial, such as cork orthe like, axially secured by a. screw 17 ontothe end of the piston rod 10. Thescrew 17 has a reduced threaded end anda relatively large shank providing a shoulder for engagement with theend of the rod, the shank being of such a length that the piston 3 maybe moved laterally, a slight amount, when telescoped within the cylinder2. The piston 3 will alsobe compressed when proj ected in the cylinder 2due to the fact that it is normally of somewhat larger diameter than thebore of the cylinder. lt is guided to its position within the bore bythe inclined annular surface 18 interconnecting the compression chamberproper with the inlet passage leading thereto.

Vfithin the barrel 1 forming the lubricant reservoir a sheet metalimpeller, indicated f generally at 19, is provided secured to a tubu larsupporting shaft 2O which is loosely telescoped over the piston rod 10engaging by an end with lateral projections 22 of th-e rod to restrainit from longitudinal movement toward the end of the piston rod. j

The impeller is generally inclined to a plane normal to the axis of itsshaft and while it may be in the form a straight blade, the blade mayhave portions Adeflected in any well known manner, `such as illustrated,

wherein the blade comprises three integral portions extendinglongitudinally of the reservoir barrel 1, shown, respectively, `at X, Yand Z. The portion X is inclined downwardly and outwardly from itssupporting shaft 2O to closely approach the outer portion of the endwall 13 of the reservoir to sweep it to displace lubricant outwardlytherefrom towards the unswept central portion of said end wall,including its central aperture containing the dispensing mouth 11 forthe conduit V1() leading to theA high pressure cylinder 2.V Y

The portion Z of the is disposed closely contiguous to the innercylindrical surface portion of the reservoir 1, which is disposedrelatively remote from the end wall 13.

The intermediate portion Y of the blade sweeps, by its outer edgeportion the portion of the cylindrical reservoirsurface which isdisposed intermediate the portion swept by the blade portion Z and theannular portion of the end wall 13 swept by the blade portion X. lnother words, successive longitudinally disposed surfaces of thereservoir comprising the outer annularportion of the wall 13, thesurface of the cylindrical portion of the reservoir adjacent thereto,and the bal ance of said reservoir cylindrical surface,

disposed remotely to the wall 13, are coincidentally swept by th-esuccessive blade portions X, Y and Z.

rlhe blade portion X and Y are disposed angularly to any plane passedthrough the axis of the rod 10, but the blade portion Z is preferablymore nearly disposed parallel to one such plane.

The supporting portion 23, affixed to the tube 20, comprises aprojection of the said intermediate blade portion Y.

rlhe impeller blade 19 is projected mostly to one side of its supportingshaft 20 and is blade is upright and ato provided with an aperturedreduced end 23,

the aperture thereof being elongated, having a minor axis indicated inll ig. 3, and a major axis indicated by the length of the opening 24 ofFig. 1.

The rod 10 is longitudinally grooved at one side as shown at 25, thisbeing'preferably done from end to end during the preliminary operationsin the making of the rod. The cap 12 is formed with an inward projection26 extending into the groove 25 to prevent relative rotation of the rod10 and the cap 12, while still permitting longitudinal reciprocation ofthe rodvthrough the central aperture of the cap. j j

The opposite lateral surfaceof the rod 10 is also provided with arelatively short groove 27 in the form of a portion of a spiral; thespirally formed groove 27 communicates at its bottom end with atransverse arcuate groove 28 which communicates also with thelongitudinal groove 25.

frio

' peller shaft .20 and ratchet annulus 30, onto the, rod 10 prior totheV orming of thesupporting beads 22 on the rod and prior totheplacement of the. piston 3 thereon. -Under such a condition the ratchetannulusv 30 and tubular shaft 2O are successively telescoped over thefree end of the rod V10 with the inwardprojection 29 of the annulusiirst guided to enter the longitudinal groove 25 and then when the shaftis sutliciently tele-- scoped over the rod 10 by relative rotation ofthe rod andV annulus.A the projection 29 is lguided through thetransverse groove 28 into thegroove 27.

The beads 22 are then formed onV the rod 10 to restrain the projectionfrom ree-nterin thetransverse groove 28.`

The annulus 30 is best illustrated in longitudinal medial section and.in plan in Figs. 4f and 5, and comprises a short section of tube havingthe ratchet `teeth 31 formed in. its one end edge and Vhaving the inwardprojection 29 at its other end portion. The diameter ot theV tubeforming the annulus is such that the annulus tits loosely over the rod10, and also Ythe projection lits loosely vwithin the spiral groove 27.e

Engaging rwith the ratchet teeth 31 are cooperating ratchet teeth 3 2formed on the adjacent end edge of the shaft 20. A helical spring 35surrounding the rodl() is interposed between the cap 12 and the adjacent'end kof the annulus to keep the ratchet teeth 31 and 32 of the annulusand tubular impeller shaft, respectively, in engagement, said spring,however, yielding upon retractive rotative movements of the annulusoccasioned by a receding movement of the spirally grooved piston rod 10.The operation of the" gun ask described will now'be clear.

The space within the reservoir 1 and cylinder 2 being first filled withgrease, the operator will reciprocate the rod 10 into the cylinder 2which discharges grease from the cylinder 2, 1n al well known manner.Subsequent retraction of the piston from the cylinder will recharge thecylinder vwith grease from the reservoir, through the mouth 11 andconduit 10. At each subsequent reciprocation of the rod into Vthecylinder 2, the lateral walls of the .spiral groove 27 will malte acamining engage-ment with the proj ect-ion 9 of the ratchet annulus andeffect av rotative movement oi the annulus, to a degree determined.bythe pitch and length Vof the groove.

The ratchet teeth of the annulus engaging, tractively with the similarlyformed teeth of the impeller shaft will eti-ect rotation of the'impeller shaft to the same degree as that oi? the annulus. j

In the embodiment illustrated I preferably rotate theimpellershaft'relative tothe piston l n rod 10 and the tubular reservoir1, one-eighth havefswept the lubricant engaged by its or- L ward facefrom allportions of the reservoir walls whichare nearlyengaged bythemoving impeller. i Y i The impeller rotatablymoving about its axiswiththe edges of its inclined portions X and Y in contact'with the body ofgrease ahead of it,will not-only compact the grease ybut will cause itto move inwardly to a central position in'intimate contact Vwith thebody of grease in the Vconduit 10. `At the' same time, the body ofgreaseengaged by such impeller portion and by the non-inclined impellerportion Z, will be contacted a-ndmoved inwardly in intimatercontact withthe portions of greaseabovere ferred to. Y impeller will not be directlydisturbed by the impeller but will follow they grease` engaged by theimpeller downwardly through the reservoir bythe eect of cohesion betweenthe diii'erentiparticles of grease.

rlhe lateral edges of the blade perform the very important function ofmoving the grease from intimate contact with the lateral walls of thereservoirk so that the fluid pressure 'exerted upon its 'outer surface,disposedreincidentally `effect an impelling krotational movement of theimpeller 19.

`Also, that this rotational movement of the impeller willeiiectcompression on the body of grease disposed intermediate' theimpeller and the cylinder 2, and will compactthe body of grease toexclude'air and to prevent the formation of an air channel in theform ofa funnel, or otherwise, through the body of grease, when the piston 3 issubsequently withdrawn by the compression spring 84,' interposed betweenthe handv grip 8 aiiXed to the rod 1 0, and the cap 12, to effectareduction in pressure below atmospheric pressure, of the air in thecylinder 2, to effect a draught of a new supplyof lubricant. into' thecylinthe retarding etfectsof adhesion between the body of grease in thereservoir and Ythe resl or otherwise on the `dispensing end portion i ofthe reservoir over the mouth l, leading to the cylinder 2.

Referring nowtothe embodiment of my` invention illustrated by partsthereof in lligs; 8 and 9, this embodiment differs only from f' theembodiment as abovev described in that it illustrates another form ofimpeller, wherein the impeller 19 is not inclined to a plane passingthrough the axis of its shaft 20 but is lalways in such a plane in allrotative movements about the rod 10. Also, I preferably provide theblade 19 with an enlarged `aperture 35 inV its upperintermediateportion.

In such an embodiment the body of grease would be swept from 4thelateral walls of the reservoir `by the portiont of the blade, and bemoved inwardly along the forward wall of the impeller towards its shaftby the body portion 37V' of the blade. The lubricant swept from thelateral walls of the reservoir will be compacted and piled up above themouth 1 of the inlet passage leading to the cylinder 2, even uponconditions of partial depletion of lubricant in the reservoir. Im-

pellers of this kind would compact the lubricant, expressing air andpreventing the forming of air bubbles or air passages therein, bylaterally directing compacting pressure on the lubricant, and laterallymoving the body of lubricant inwardly. Y

In the operation of the impeller, such as that shown in either of theembodiments described, I preferably so form the blades for theembodiments illustrated, so that no portion of such blades will displacelubricant from the space between the ends 38 and 38', respectively, forthe blades 19 and 19', and the mouth 11 of the conduit. This isaccomplished by cutting away the blade as at 39, between the portion 88and the rod 10, as illustrated in connection with the said secondembodiment.

Lubricant will, therefore, remain contiguous to the inlet mouth of theconduit leading to the pressure cylinder which will be replenished withlubricant upon each movement of the piston to displace lubricant from`the cylinder.

Although the embodiment impellers illustrated and described are providedeach with but a single blade, I contemplate sometimes making these witha plurality of angularly divergent blades, which may be of the same orofvarying forms. I also contemplate the provision of a plurality ofimpeller elements gaseosa' longitudinally disposed each to the otherL`Although, also, I have illustrated the Yratcheting elements ascomprising parts relatively so disposed that the impeller will beadvanced upon a lubricant ejecting movement of the piston rod, Icontemplate, within the scope thereof, the reverse arrangement, wherein,

the impeller will be advanced by a ratchetr grease therein, a dispensingnozzle for theM gun, a handle for the gun, and means respon# sive torelative longitudinal movements .of

said handle and nozzle to move said impeller. 2. In a grease gun, thecombinationwith a. grease reservoir, a rotary impeller movkable aboutthe axis of the reservoir to directly compact the body of greasetherein, a handle anda dispensing nozzle, and means responsive torelative longitudinal movements of said handle and nozzle tocircuitously move `said impeller to sweep grease from the lateral wallsof the reservoir.

3. In a portable hand operated greasegun, the combination with acompression chamber, a compressor element therefor, means for operatingsaid compressor elementa a tubular lubricant reservoir' havingsubstantially cylindrical side walls in communication with said chamber,a rod extending axially of the reservoir, an impeller having an edgedisposed adjacent to said side walls on said rod, and means responsiveto actuation of said compressor element operating means to rotate theimpeller on the rod.

4. In a. portable hand operated grease gun,

a compressor, operating means therefor, a

lubricant reservoir having substantially cylindrical side walls, a. rodextending axially thereof, an impeller having an edge extendinglongitudinally along said side walls, journaled on the rod, and meansresponsive to actuation of the compressorto rotate the impeller aboutsaid rod.

5. In a grease gun, a compressor, a'lubrirocated relative to thereservoir, to operate' the -compressor, 'an impeller on the reservoirmovable 1n an annular path coaxial with said rod', and means responsiveto fa' longitudinal v Walls of the reservoir adapted to operate the3icant reservoir for supplyinglubrieant therecompressor, said compressorvdisposed at an end of the reservoir `and supported thereby, a handle onthe rod disposed exteriorly of theother endof the reservoir, an impellerblade having outeredges disposed contiguously to lateral Walls or thereservoir, said blade journaled on said rod, and means responsive tolongitudinal thrusts exerted on said rod by said handle to operate thecompressor, and means responsive thereto `to move the imi pellercircuitously along said lateral Walls.

155' comprising an annulus journaled on the rod,

n 7 In a grease gun, a compressor. operating means therefor, a lubricantreservoir, a rod i extendingaxially thereof, an impeller liournaled onthe rod, andrneans responsive to actuation of the compressor to rotatethe impeller about'said rod, and .said means com-V prising ratchetmechanism, whereby reciprocatory movements of the rod relative kto the-impellereii'ect successive movements of the impeller in the samecircuitous direction.

V8. In a greasev gun, a compressor, a lubricant reservoir, a roddisposed axially therein, an impeller journaled on the rod, said rodlongitudinally reeiprocable to actuate -ithe compressor, and meansresponsive to longitudinal movement of the rod to eircuitously move theimpeller around the rod.

9. In a grease gun, a compressor, a

an impeller journaled Von the rod, said rod longitudinally reciprocableto actuate the compressor, and means responsive to a longitudinalmovement of the yrod to eircuitously move the impeller around the rod,said means comprising a pair of cooperative camming elements, one forthe rod and one fori-theV impeller, and a ratcheting mechanism 10. In agrease gum a compressor, a lubrito, a rod extending axially through thereservoir adapted to operate the. compressor, a handle disposedexteriorly of the compressor on the rod, an impeller blade having outerY edges disposed contiguously to lateral Walls of the reservoirjournaled on said rod, and means responsive to longitudinalthrustsiexerted on said rod by said handle, to move the impellercircuitously along said lateral Walls,

a pair of cooperative cam elements of said annulus and said rod adaptedto veect relativerotation of the annulus tothe rod upon relativelongitudinal movements thereof, andV a ratcheting mechanism comprisinginterengaging ratchet elements of said impeller and said annulus. Y

11. In a grease gun, thecombination With a compressor, a reservoir forsupplying lubri-V V lubrii' cant reservoir, a roddisposed axiallytherein,

eratinfg'k rodV forf inthe; j compressor" extending axially through thereservoir,l an impeller comprising -a tube journaled on the rod yand ablade lextending laterally `from the tube Within the reservoir, anannulus journaled on the rod, and apairof coopera-tive ca m elements forsaid annulus and rod to eii'ect rota,-Ak tlon of thev annulus responsiveto a longitudinall vmovement of the rod, said annulus andl tube havinginterengaging ratcheting ele.- ments formed at contiguous ends thereof.

12. 'In a grease ,gun,'the; combination with'l a compressor, a reservoirfor supplying lubri-l cant'fthereto, after Aactuati'ons thereof, anoperating rod for thecompressor extending axially. through Ythereservoir, an impejller4 comprising a tube ournaled-onthe rod and ablade extending laterally Jfrom the tube With- 1n the reservoir, Vvanannulus journaled on'ithe rod,apair of cooperative cam elements for saidannulus and rodfto effect rotation of the annulus responsivetoajlongitudinal move ment of the rod, said annulus and tube havingmterengaging. ratcheting elements. formed at contiguousends thereof, andspring means for. retracting said operating rod, andv for yieldingly.holding' the saidzratcheting elements inengagement. v f f In testimonywhereof I hereunto aixvmy Asignature this 19th day of October, 1929.

oscila u 2ER-K.;

eantthereto, after actuations thereof, an .op-4 Y

